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Associate Rand Ghayad Authors Article on the Dodd-Frank Act and Long-Term Unemployment for The Huffington Post

An article written by Brattle associate Rand Ghayad, “The Employment Puzzle: Should Dodd and Frank Be Blamed?” was recently featured in The Huffington Post. Dr. Ghayad’s article discusses the most common explanations behind the difficulty in alleviating the long-term unemployment problem, namely the argument that government regulations and interventions, such as the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, have made companies uncertain about how the financial regulations will impact their future growth and less likely to invest in hiring permanent workers.

In his article, Dr. Ghayad points out that there is no strong support for the claim that financial regulations are a primary factor holding back employment. Rather, he argues that a more convincing explanation behind the continued challenge of lowering unemployment is that the demand for goods and services remains depressed following the financial crisis. He concludes that it is likely the decline in business demand, as opposed to government regulation, that has had the largest impact on layoffs and unemployment.